(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

24

www.japmnt.com

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF THE FUNCTION OF GODDESSES IN MESOPOTAMIAN

CIVILIZATIONS, ELAM, IRAN, INDIA, GREECE AND EGYPT

Arazoo Rasool Ahmed

Department of Education, Faculty of Education and Languages, Lebanese French University,

Erbil, Iraq

arazoorasool@lfu.edu.krd

Original Scientific Paper

doi:10.5937/jouproman7-21016

Abstract: In various myths of history, such as

Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and ancient Iran,

goddesses entered the sacraments of the people,

which have been named in some of the ancient texts.

So that, in Mesopotamian mythology and in one of

the ancient Sumerian texts, the goddess "Ishtar" or "

Sumerian Inanna" is mentioned parallel to Anahita

of Iran, as the goddess of war and love, which

represents the political and social value of women in

that Mesopotamian community of that time. In the

myths of Greece, Egypt and ancient India there was

also a belief in the rearing and fertility of the woman.

On the other hand, some other goddesses who were

the messenger of spring, blooming, love, purity of

the earth and heaven, were worshiped, and some

statues of them are also remained. It should be

mentioned that the goddesses in various ancient

societies had different functions, depending on the

geographical location and the time and place in

which they were located, their purity and worship

was changed. Since there were political, economic,

cultural, and religious relations in those days, it was

natural for the goddesses of the associated territories

to have different forms, and it was even possible to

be worshiped and to allocate certain places for

worship in those territories, which is applicable to

Mesopotamia and Elam. In this research process, it

is tried to use the descriptive, analytical and

comparative studies to explore the goddesses in

Elam, Mesopotamian, Iranian, Indian, Greek and

Egyptian civilizations. It is inferred from this text

that there were similar goddesses with the same

functions that were worshiped by the people, and

they were called when needed.

Keywords: Goddesses, Myths, Elam, Mesopotamia,

Iran, Egypt, Greece, and India.

Introduction

Humanity has benefited a variety of

religious ideas in its long history. Worship

of the mother-gods is one of these types.

The abundant statues found through

excavations carried out in different regions

confirm the existence of the tradition of

worship of the mother-gods and goddesses,

the oldest religious tradition, in the old

world.

In all societies, there has been a division of

labor between women and men throughout

history. Based on historical information and

evidence obtained in communities, hunting

and gathering foods were the most

important activities of this community, and

the division of labor was based on gender

and age. Hunting, warfare, political and

religious, ceremonial and artistic activities

were the responsibility of men, and

collecting and supplying herbal food and

childcare were the responsibility of women.

The responsibility of women for the

preparation of food, reproduction and

maintenance of children creates this

meaning for the human community at a

time that the female is a guarantee of the

survival and life of the human community.

Based on this conception and image of

women, they gained more power in society

and in a society where natural hazards

continually threatened the human society,

the persistence of life by women turned into

a sacred matter, and women, the conquerors

of this continuity of life, were sanctified to

the extent that they were praised as

goddesses and mother-gods. Believing in

these sanctities and the fertility and

dynamism of women in different lands,

they have been called goddesses, for

example the goddess of water, which is a

female god and is also mentioned in myths.

(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

25

www.japmnt.com

In addition, and based on historical and

archaeological evidence, some scholars

believe that speaking and inventing

vocabulary for the transmission of abstract

concepts was founded by women, as

women needed to talk with children and to

communicate with other tribal members.

That is why, in all cultures and languages,

the language of the conversation is called

mother tongue. In sum, and because women

in the ancient age had the main task of life,

they were worshiped as a goddess for their

dignity and respect. Perhaps the most

important cause was the fertility and

reproduction that caused the woman to be

sacred in this age, and even to be worshiped

as a goddess. The goddesses of fertility,

water, justice, love, beauty, etc. are only

examples of women goddesses, each

existed in Mesopotamian civilizations,

Elam, Iran, Greece, India and Egypt, with

different names and with almost identical

functions that guaranteed the life of human

societies in conditions which the early

humans were constantly faced with natural

devastating threats.

The purpose of the research

Considering the position of these goddesses

in the above mentioned civilizations, this

study attempts to "study the functions of

similar goddesses in Mesopotamian, Elam,

India and Egypt". In this study, we will also

examine the functional differences and

similarities of these goddesses in these

societies.

Research questions

Accordingly, the main questions of the

research will be:

- What are the common goddesses of

Mesopotamian civilizations, Elam, Iran,

India and Egypt?

- What was the function of each of these

goddesses in each of the mentioned

civilizations?

- Did the same goddesses have the same

functions in different civilizations?

- What are the differences and similarities

between the similar goddesses in the

studied civilizations?

Research method

The method used in this research was a

qualitative comparative study that was

based on comparing the functional

indicators of the goddesses among the

mentioned civilizations.

Goddesses of Elam, Mesopotamia and

Iran

Archaeological discoveries have shown

throughout Western Asia, Iran and Central

Asia, Egypt and Greece in the west to the

Sindh valley and the Hindu Kush Mountains

in the east, the mother-god was worshiped

from the ancient times. The document of

believing in mother-god can be found in the

existence of many abundant statues, often

without head, and sometimes giving birth to

a child. Sometimes it has a child in the arm.

This goddess is the symbol of fertility,

blessing, and the divine symbol of childbirth

and motherhood (Bahar, 2007: 393). In fact,

with the invention of agriculture by women

and the domestication of wildlife, humankind

has taken a step toward mastering its

environment, and so the importance of

women has become much more significant.

In the Neolithic era, unlike the Paleolithic

era, the great goddess which dominated on all

affairs and phenomena, changed into diverse

goddesses for various affairs that had a

prominent personality and directly involved

in the daily life of the people, and she was

also symbolically linked to the moon, water,

rain, and the fertility of women and the

growth of plants (Eliade, 1997: 162-163).

The women's statues of the Paleolithic and

Neolithic period, some of them thirty

thousand years old, reflect the dominant

position of women before patriarchal

authority in ancient societies. Archaeology

across the Western Asia, Iran and Central

Asia from Egypt and Greece in the west to the

Sind Valley and the Hindu Kush mountains

in the east have introduced us to the very

ancient and grand praise of the mother-god in

prehistoric times.

(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

26

www.japmnt.com

The reality of the belief in mother-god can

be found in the numerous statues of a

goddess considered a symbol of fertility,

blessing and endowment. She was the

supporter and cultivator of the heavenly

Son, and was the divine symbol of the

childbearing of women and motherhood

(Bahar, 2002: 393). In Iran, for the first

time, it was based on the excavations of

Shush that the worship of the goddesses

was discovered. In west of Iran, in the Sarab

hill, a woman's statue was discovered that

dated back to 6000 BC, and indicated the

existence of the mother-god in Iran

(Eskandari, 2001: 133). Of course, the

tradition of worshiping mother-gods has

been observed in different parts of the

world, such as Iran, Egypt, Greece and the

Mediterranean coast (Gaviri, 2000: 14).

The role of the goddesses in the collection

of Elam gods is more significant than

elsewhere. The list of the forty gods

mentioned in the Naramsin treaty was

begun with Pinenkir, the goddess of love

and fertility, which was worshiped

throughout Elam and had an Ashtam or

fertility house; she has been featured

repeatedly in artwork. The collection of

Elam gods was originally consisted of the

gods of the political units of Elam; it is not

surprising, then, that different gods have

had the same roles and similar cases have

been attributed to them. So that, several of

them was called "Great Goddesses", which

means the superior god. Elam's references

are not so informative about the character

of the gods, but Mesopotamia texts are used

to fill this gap, although they are in most

cases late references. In the Akkadian texts

it can be seen that Lagamal (worshiped

throughout the Neo-Elamite period 1000-

539BCE) is the same as Nergal (god of

underworld), and Napirisha (with a snake

figure that symbolizes primordial waters) is

the same as Ea (Mesopotamian god, who

rules the primordial waters of the abyss).

Lagmal is the Infernal God, and Napirisha,

with his bed made of a snake with a human

head, can be distinguished in Kurangun

relief (Giovinazzo: 329). Originally, the

dominant figure seems to be the great

goddess Pinenkir. That is, the first name to

be called in the Naramsin Treaty, while

Inshushinak is placed on the second rank of

the gods. This conquest and prominence of

a high goddess is probably the reflection of

the way of the materialistic life that has

been more or less characteristic of Elam

civilization at all times, even when the

superiority of a male god in this collection

of gods is fully recognized, probably

influenced by Western beliefs. In a way that

the ritual ceremonies of the goddesses have

always maintained their popularity in all

parts of the empire. Some compare this

goddess to the goddess Ishtar, the

Mesopotamian goddess (Sarraf, 2005: 34).

In Elam, the Pantheon goddesses’/ gods'

congregation (the place of gods) are

consisted of goddesses such as Baba and

Mam, or the wives of gods without special

attributes such as Serpenito and Tethimeto

(probably foreign and Akkadian), or in

Mesopotamia it is consisted of the gods

related to death and the underworld, such as

Ereshkigal, An or Gaval. Gaval, known as

the Great Lady physician, is originally the

Goddess of Death, as its animalistic symbol

in the form of a dog shows (Majidzadeh,

2000: 182).

Another goddess in Elam, which had a

homologous in Mesopotamia, was Manzat.

This goddess was worshiped in

Mesopotamia by the name of Ninali. It

seems that Ninali was one of the oldest

Babylonian gods who formed a couple with

Babylonian Adad in Mesopotamia, which

means “the city” in Akkadian (Sarraf, 2005:

36). On the other hand, the goddess Manzat

in Mesopotamia was likened to Ishtar by

the scribes of Akkadian (Eduards, 2012:

60). In the Elam of that day, the god Biltia,

means “my lady” can be adapted with

Babylonian Ishtar; because one of the

successors of Untash-Napirisha, the king of

Il Elam, described the goddess as Tantar,

the Lady of Babylon (ibid, 64- 65).

(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

27

www.japmnt.com

From these indications and references in

Elam religion, it appears that their beliefs

contained the views and beliefs that

prevalent in most of the early Middle

Eastern religions, with the obvious effect of

the rituals of Mesopotamia (Edwards, 2012:

73) and is in some way in harmony with

their gods and goddesses.

In the 4th millennium BC, in Mesopotamia,

they believed that life was generated by a

goddess. The world, in their view, was

pregnant, not born, the source of life was

female, and for that and because of the

appearance of small statues of naked

goddesses on the Iranian plateau, one can

assume that Iranians have had such an

attitude toward life. (Esmailpour, 2008:

76). At the beginning of the urbanization

period in Mesopotamia, we find temples

that are in pairs, and they are likely to

indicate that there is a belief in a heavenly

husband and wife. In all historical periods,

the great god of Uruk, in Mesopotamia,

was the goddess Inna, sometimes called

Inanna, which meant the Lady of the Sky in

Sumeria (Bahar, 2005: 29). The goddess

Inanna had a husband named Dumuzi.

Believing in the marriage of this gracious

blessing god with Inanna at the onset of the

spring and his next martyrdom in the same

year that was the epitome of the life and

death of the unstable world, and the annual

celebration of this ritual in the beginning,

and the rituals of the remarriage of the

goddesses in this time was at the center of

Mesopotamian beliefs (Warner, 2007: 41).

People mourned in the martyrdom of this

god, and were happy because of the

goddess’s remarriage. In other words, the

death of Dumuzi was the symbol of the

death of the unstable world (Getty, 1990:

17) and the re-marriage of the goddess

caused the re-growth of plants and fertility

of trees and animals; and it was believed

that by displaying the ritual of the death of

the god and the remarriage of the goddess,

it would be possible to prevent the stopping

of the yearly seasonal movement and

confirm the repetition of plant and animal

life, which has a magical base. Nowruz, at

the beginning of the spring reminds this old

native tradition in Mesopotamia (Bahar,

2005: 29).

It should be mentioned that during the

initial periods, the inhabitants of each city

and village worshiped the native god which

many of them were fertility goddesses that

ensured the welfare of the community,

while the most important members of the

pantheon (Assembly of the Gods) were at

the head of the major cultural and political

centers, the gods like Nana-Sin, goddess of

the Moon in Ur, Utu the god of Sun in the

city Larsa, Ninhursag, the mother-goddess

in Kish and Nin Isina, the Healing goddess

in Isina (Iles Johnston, 2015: 224).

Ninhursag is in fact the ancient Sumerian

goddess, which was entered to the groups

of gods in Elam and worshiped due to the

political-religious influence of the country

(Cameron, 1936: 125). The moon, which

appeared as a crescent, was one of the

Elams goddesses, apparently entered from

Mesopotamia to Elams, where was called

Sin (Hinz, 2010: 58). This God in Elams

was the father of orphans. The crescent of

the moon represented the god Napir in

Elams. The name of the god Napir in the

Hitta treaty appears in two places along

with three goddesses, which, of course,

have been sworn in by the group of

witnesses. The goddess in Sumer was

consistent with Nana. In fact, it must be

mentioned that the moon in the universal

symbols was a symbol of the mother-

goddess and the power of femininity, queen

and paradise (Cooper, 1968: 107). Thus, the

imagination of fertility of animals and

productivity of plants by the moon led to

the belief in the Moon God as the fertility

goddess that was seen in most pre-Aryan

civilizations in Iran called the mother-Sin

and Nana (Pourdavoud, 1977: 23). The

bronze decorative object dated back to

1000BCE which was found in Lorestan

(province of Ilam) depicts the role of this

goddess which clarifies the connection of

feminism and the moon.

(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

28

www.japmnt.com

Professor Ackerman, an American

historian of artworks of Iran, believes that

this role is among the first signs of the

connection between the fertility goddess

and the Moon goddess (Samadi, 1988: 23).

Ninatud, or Ishtar, the Venus God, the

worshiped god in Kish, was one of the most

important goddess in Mesopotamia, and the

worship of its peers can be seen in most of

the civilizations and territories of that day

of the ancient world. In Mesopotamia, the

goddess of Ishtar had a great reputation and

was most highly praised; she was the

goddess who was both goddess of war and

goddess of love and lust. This goddess is

almost the same as the Anahita or Venus

who was praised by the Persians (Aria,

2003: 34). This goddess appears in

Mesopotamian mythology as well as in

correspondence from the West from

Anatolia to Egypt, under the same name or

alien names in all roles. In Mesopotamia,

she was the city of Uruk, where she was

initially referred to as a girl and later as the

wife of Anu, the god of the heavens and the

god of gods (Majidzadeh, 2000 :182). The

image of this goddess is presented in the

carvings of Annubanini, the king of

Lullubi, the king standing in front of her.

The text of this epitaph is in praise of Ishtar

and other goddesses of the Akkadian era.

About this goddess, some believe her

rituals continued as Nanai to the Parthian

era, and the numerous ceramic statues

found in the party cemetery indicate that the

name still remains for Iranian mothers (

Hejazi, 1991: 34). According to Herodotus,

the Iranians had learned to sacrifice for this

heavenly goddess. Herodotus knows the

position of Anahita(Figure1) among the

Persians similar to the goddess Anat of the

tribes of Syria, Ishtar of Babylon, Kumanai

of Hittites, and Aphrodite of Greece

(Faniyan, 1972: 234). Although the royal

family was honest in their tendency to the

Zoroastrian religion, they also clung to the

worship of this foreign goddess. The

western Iranians praised Ishtar by the name

of Anahitish (pure), a name that they had

given to the Venus planet, then, using the

Avestan adjective Anahita (pure), this

Anahitish was transformed into the goddess

Harhuti Ardvi Sura (Boyce, 2002: 89).

Figure1. The image of Anahita/ Ardvi sura

Anahita

(Pashtunizadeh, 2017:98)

Similarities of the Anahita in Ancient

Greece, Iran, India, and Egypt

In ancient Elam, a goddess been mentioned

as Shazi, who is the goddess of the rivers

and she was asked for help in trial as the

judge of hard-judgments (Hinz, 1997: 57).

It can be compared to Anahita somehow.

According to Justi, this goddess was also of

interest in neighboring countries, and she

had taken some traits of goddesses of

foreign nations amongst the Sami people of

Iraq and in Asia Minor (Yashts, 1968, v. 1:

164).

This worship of the goddess Anahita /

Anahid was gradually drawn to the west, to

Anatolia and Greece, perhaps through

Cyprus and Crete. In particular, the most

popular image of Venus, the Greeks'

Aphrodite (Figure 2), shows her as coming

from the sea on the coast of Cyprus, while

Adonis, one of the Sami Gods is

accompanying her. The ritual of this

goddess with a purely Greek face with

Aphrodite was well-deserved. This ritual

was expanded throughout the Persian

Empire / Achaemenid Empire and in

various ways merged with the rituals of

Athena, Aphrodite and Sibel in Anatolia

(Warner, 2007: 41-42). In Greece, most of

the early gods were first goddesses, and in

this case it would be natural to know her as

a wife of the new god, and if he was a god,

they might have introduced him as a son of

the new god, but this would require a

mother, that is, a local goddess or fairy.

(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

29

www.japmnt.com

This was a very natural and simple childish

thing, but since this is the case in many of

the various valleys and islands that the

Greeks live in, and because these local and

ruling gods are more and more were unified

with Zeus and Apollon, gradually it seems

that Zeus and the Apollon have been

merged (Kitto, D., 2014: 240). Greek

writers considered this goddess as the

Aphrodite Anaise or simply Anaise.

According to the Greeks, the goddess was

born from the water foam of the sea, with a

clear skin and elegant body, slightly farceur

and coquets, but far away from the behavior

of prostitutes in temples, but self-control

(Noss, 1994: pp 142-143).

Figure 2. The image of the goddess

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty

in ancient Greece

(Taheri, 2007:52)

It should be noted that Anahita was the

source of all fertility in the beliefs of the

Iranian people of ancient times and cleanses

all the sperm of men and cleansed the

wombs of all the mothers (Hinnells, 1994:

39). She is known as the peer of Sarasvati

in the Vedic religion, and others believe

that the Ardvi was originally an adjective

for Sarasvati, that was used to name a small

holy river in the present Punjab region, in

India, but in Iran, it was turned to

Harakhvati (Amouzegar, 2007: 23).

Sarasvati is called the presentation of

speech in post-Vedic myths in India, and in

Atharvaveda, each of the gods is requested

according to their characteristics, Sarasvati,

who is the representation of spirituality, is

requested for the speech (Gaviri, 1993: 33).

This is the same goddess who is the

tantamount of Maraspand, the Iranian

goddess, and the symbol of the word and

the speech of Avesta (Christensen, 1953:

478). According to Logemel, her Iranian

name was Harahvati, which is described in

Avestan texts with the names Sura-Aredvi

and Anahita. From his point of view, these

two goddesses are in fact two different

displays of an ancient Indo-Iranian goddess

who represents the heavenly river, the god

who floods the waters in the rivers

(Malandra 1983: 119). On the other hand,

Aphrodite was equal to Hasour (Figure 3)

in Egypt (Fazaeli, 2004: 71). Hasour was a

goddess in the sky. Therefore, Nut, the

goddess of sky is his mother and Ra, is his

father. Worship of Hasour, the female

goddess, the cow, was common in Egypt

from the ancient times, and in the sky it was

in the form of a cow or Taurus, and was

called Lady of the stars and the lady of the

sky (Javan, 2007: 277).

Figure 3. Image of Hasour - Egyptian God

– her head in the form of a cow

(Javaheri, 2011: 105)

The significance of the goddess Nut in that

era was such that as described in two

Egyptian inscriptions, after the conquest of

Egypt, the Achaemenid kings, Cambyses

and Dariush the Great called themselves the

son of the Nut, the mother of Egyptian

gods, and the son of Horus the great

Egyptian God (ibid, 270). Plutarch, the

famous Greek historian of the second

century AD, compared her Athena, and

referred to the worship of her. According to

L. Chaumont, a German writer, this

goddess is an obvious reference to Anahita.

She notes that the history of this defensive

character of this goddess, who later

Sassanids gave her the head of their failed

enemies, goes back to the first century AD.

(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

30

www.japmnt.com

Thanks to Herodotus, who says that Xerxes

sacrificed for Athena (i.e. Anahita) before

wars, so we can bring it back to earlier

times (Yarshater, v. 3/2, p. 301). In ancient

Greece, Athena was sometimes called the

goddess of wisdom, sometimes the goddess

of war, and sometimes the goddess of

knitting. In Egypt, on the other hand, Nith

or Anaitis was also the goddess of War, and

the skilled woman in knitting, who in the

seventh century BC was the protector and

guardian of the people in Sais, the capital of

Egypt (Rezapur,2005:211).

The goddesses of Iran, Greece, India and

Egypt

Haurvatat (Health) and Amertat are other

Iranian goddesses that can be adapted to

Asvin or Indian Nasatias. Haurvatat was the

god of sun, while Amertat was reigning

over the herbs. In India, Utat and Sarvatat

are the peers of Amertat and Haurvatat,

respectively (Widengren, 1998: 40). One of

the other Iranian gods, similar to those in

India and Greece, was Sepandarmaz or

Spantana Armaiti. This goddess was equal

to Dionysus, the god of fertility in Greece,

and it was mentioned as Sandaramet in

Armenia (Rajabi, 2001: 391). On the other

hand, it can be similar to the first goddess

of fertility, Gaia (Rosenberg, 1999: 70).

According to the Zoroastrian and Vedic

sources, there is no doubt that the Armaiti

has an Indo-Iranian history and it is clear

that Zoroaster, the creator of religion in

eastern Iran, has used hereditary materials;

A memory that remains, though weak, as

Aramati in India. Before Zoroaster, the god

of the sky and the god of the earth were holy

for the Iranians and it is clear that the

concepts of father of the sky and mother of

the earth have remained from the earliest

times for the Persians and Indians (Boyce,

1995: v. 1: 78). In such a way that the great

goddess of the earth, Paritvi Matar is

admired in Rigveda (Coomaraswamy,

2003: 135). Some scholars mentioned that

Sepandarmaz, like the other Ameshaspands

is originated from the ancient Indo-Iranian

gods (Warner, 2007: 254). The

Sepandarmaz in the Avesta and the Pahlavi

texts sometimes refers to earth and is used

as its synonym (Bundahishn, 2001: 81). In

addition, in the mythology of ancient Iran,

Sepandaramz, is the symbol of tolerance,

the guardian angel of the earth, and the

fertilizing and purifying it, and the joy and

comfort of the earth has been given to her

kind hands. Zoroastrians, while drinking

Haoma, donate some of it to the earth for

the satisfaction of this goddess (Anasori,

1982: 806).

Another Iranian goddess, whose peer can

be found in Greece and India, is the goddess

Čista who is described as the white. This

goddess was the guardian of science in

Ancient Iran (Zarshenas,2006). In Greek

mythology, the two gods that are the

foundation of wisdom and knowledge are

Metis and Athena, which lie under the

power of the Zeus, the gods of gods (Smith,

2010: 7). Metis was the wife of Zeus, and

when she was pregnant with Athena, Zeus,

accepting the other gods’ statements

swallowed her to protect his godly power

from the power of wisdom of this unborn

child. After this, Athena was born from the

forehead of Zeus and became the symbol of

the wisdom of the gods (Sanjari., 2016:

110). It can also be compared with the

Virgin, the goddess resembling wisdom,

reason and sincerity (Sanepour, 2014: 49).

Goddess Čista in India is somehow

comparable to the great goddess Devi or Jai

Mata Di, the most powerful goddess. The

trait of this goddess is a mixture of pre-

Aryan mother-god and wife of Shiva. In the

recent role, she is the perfect reflection of

her husband (Veronica, 1994: 162). On the

other hand, in this land, Vāc or the goddess

of speech and the words is compared to

goddess Čista, which is said that the

Sanskrit language is her innovation (ibid.

158). The goddess Daena in ancient Iran

was among other goddesses, which has a

peer in ancient India. This goddess is the

symbol of conscience (Amoozegar,

2007:31) and is the goddess of religion. The

word Dahi in Sanskrit is equal to this

goddess (Avesta, 2006:144).

(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

31

www.japmnt.com

The roles of each of the goddesses differed

according to the regions and cultures where

they were worshiped. Basically, she was the

mother, the birth giver and the source of the

new life. So she was connected with the

cycle of agriculture and wildlife, too. She

was also the wife of male gods and

occasionally the god of the sky, and

sometimes his wife or his son, and she

endured the death and resurrection, which

symbolized the resurgence of nature in the

spring, such as Ishtar and Dumuzid in

Mesopotamia and Isis and Osiris in Egypt.

Sometimes this goddess as a hunter has a

special bond with animals, as in this case, is

the Greek goddess of Artemis, who in one

of her roles supported wild animlas (Jalali

Moqaddam, 2008: 107). Ashi, the goddess

of wealth, interest and forgiveness, whom

the sentennth Yasht of Avesta is assigned to

(Yashts, 1977: 468), is another goddess that

sometimes means wealth, forgiveness,

blessing, and sometimes is a name for the

god who is guardian of wealth and the

property of the people on the earth (Ahi,

1967: 45). This goddess is somehow similar

to the Parandi goddess, and on the other

hand, with regard to her role and

importance in wealth and property, she can

be compared with the goddess of wealth

and blessing in India, Lakshmi (Figure 4).

(Pourdavoud, 1998: 180).

Figure 4. Lakshmi in India

(Ferghadan, 2010: 53)

Lakshmi is often drawn on a lily among the

elephants while golden coins are raining

from her hands (Shattuck, 2002: 66).

Lakshmi is the goddess of happiness,

embodiment of love, beauty, fertility and

wealth in India. Her portraits in Hindu art

are among the lilies, with a red garment,

decorated with jewelry and adornment,

often giving money or other blessings to the

worshipers (Hinnells, 2007: 558). Of

course, Georges Dumezil, a French

mythologist and Geo Widengren, a

Swedish linguist and Iran expert, have

compared Asha with Indian Bhaga, saying

that this goddess means gain and interest

(Widengren, 1998: 34), and it means to take

advantage of the good things and the

blessings of the world (Boyce, 1997: 76),

and in Rigveda sometimes it is used as

property and fortune, sometimes in the

sense of divider, and sometimes it means

gracious (Shayegan, 2004: 76).

Egyptian and Greek goddesses with the

same functions

Religion in Egypt reflects a complex,

unchanging world image. If a new god or

goddess appeared, or a new religion or

belief was established, they would not

replace the existing gods or goddesses or

beliefs, but gods and goddesses were only

ascended or descended in terms of

popularity. In fact, new beliefs were added

to old beliefs and nothing were left aside. In

Egypt, most of the goddesses were

portrayed partly as animals and partly as

mankind. Of course, some historians

believe that the Egyptians depicted the

goddesses of animals in order to enable

people to distinguish between different

goddesses; for an illiterate population, this

was an easy way to distinguish a goddess

from the other goddesses (Lassieur, 2008:

54).

The Greeks, at least since Herodotus, were

aware of the existence of the Egyptian gods,

especially the Egyptian goddess Isis.

Believing that, the worship of Isis and her

husband, Osiris, in Egypt, is similar to their

secret rituals. But the first signs of the

similarity of the Greek secret rituals with

the goddess Isis were mentioned in a virtue

that was carved on a plane and displayed in

the temples of Isis in the last two centuries

BC. Isis declares that he has given

agriculture, some useful rules and benefits

to humanity and has taught humans how to

hold the rituals of entering to secrets.

(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

32

www.japmnt.com

Here, Isis is unified with the Greek goddess

Demeter1 (Iles Johnston, 2014: 146-147).

As the goddess of love she is compared

with Aphrodite, as the wife of the King of

the Gods is compared with Hera, and as the

goddess of magical arts is compared with

Hecate; on the other hand, she can be

compared with Eros the God Love in the

Greek mythology (Warner, 2007: 175).

This goddess in Mesopotamia is similar to

the Tiamat, which was the root of all life

(Cope, 2011: 1-2). The goddess of Mat

(Figure 5) was one of the Egyptian

goddesses, and was the female god of order

and righteousness. It is seen in her wall

images that she is taking a feather from an

ostrich. This God is the personality of truth,

righteousness, and order. So that she puts

the ostrich feather on a scale in the other

world to measure the dead soul fairly in the

presence of the King, Osiris, because her

feather on the scale is the benchmark of

fairness and impartiality in determining the

fate (Gootterell, 1991: pp. 11-34).

Figure 5. Mat Goddess of truth and

righteousness in ancient Egypt

(Javaheri, 2011: 104)

The other worshiped goddess in ancient

Egypt was Nut; a goddess who embraces

the earth while she is bent. In this land, she

is the mother of the gods, and the Greeks

consider her as the mother of the Greek

gods, Rea (Vieu, 1996: 23).

One of the gods worshiped in all religions

was fire, which was addressed in various

1 Meter (mother) is the name of the goddesses who

were either natives of Greece, or entered from

Anatolia. Their worship included an ecstasy dance

that reduced feelings of pain; and at the peak of this

territories with different names. In some

countries, this god is male, and in the others

it is female, as in Iran, was called Atar, the

son of Ahuramazda. But in Egypt and

Greece it has been depicted as a goddess. In

ancient Greece, the goddess of fire was

called Hestia, and the immortal fire was

kept at the temple of Hestia (Afifi, 2004:

407). This goddess was worshiped in Egypt

under the name of Sekhat, that has a female

lion head. Egyptians like other nations,

including Iran, India and Greece, believing

in the purity and cleansing of fire, it was

linked to their belief in resurrection

(Bakhourtash, 1991: 88).

Conclusion

The goddesses from the ancient times of

human history, from the Paleolithic and

Neolithic period, have been important and

significant, and were seen in the myths of

various tribes, especially Elam,

Mesopotamia, Iran, Greece and Egypt. The

distinguishing feature of the motherhood of

a woman, and in particular her protection of

the family, made the woman a spiritual

personality with divine status, and caused

her to be worshiped as a goddess in ancient

civilizations, and her images were

displayed in various paintings. Some

statues of these goddesses are obtained. It

should be said that the significance of these

goddesses were depended on the

geographical situation in which they were

located. So that each of these goddesses had

their own specific qualities and roles, such

as blessing, reproduction or fertility, the

symbol of water and life, earth, sky, beauty

and magic, etc. The significance of these

goddesses in ancient Elam was such that

many historians believed in the matriarchy

period in Elam.

state, some men castrated themselves, thus giving

their own sexual power to the goddess and thereafter

became eunuch priests of the goddess.

(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

33

www.japmnt.com

The goddesses of Elam were in some way

in harmony with the goddesses of

Mesopotamia, who had the most cultural

and religious contacts with, and they were

largely originated from that land, and by

examining the religious themes of these two

civilizations, one can find an example in the

other civilization. The reflection of the

worship of the mother-goddess gradually

reached to Iran, Greece, and Egypt

civilizations, where similar goddesses were

worshiped, too. The goddesses who had

their own special roles, and their

importance and function were changed

according to the time.

References

1- Afifi, R. (2004). Mythology and Culture of Iran.

Tehran: Toos.

2- Ahi, H. et al. (1967). Woman in Ancient Iran.

Tehran: Women's Academic Press.

3- Amouzegar, J. (2007). Mythological History of Iran.

Tehran: Samt.

4- Anasori, J. (1981). “ Dordanehaye Khalvate

Khiyal”.The Goddess “Anahita” The Goddess of

water and the Queen of the Rivers; “Faghfor" Azar,

Warmer of the Souls and the Guardian of Fire",

Chista. Vol.2, No. 14, 410-436.

5- Jalil, D. (2000). Avesta. Tehran: Morvarid.

6- Bahar, M. (2005). Asian Religions. Tehran:

Cheshmeh.

7- Bahar, M. (2007). A Research in Iranian Mythology.

Tehran: Agah.

8- Bakhtourtash, N. (2008). The Mysterious Insignia of

the Sun or Mehr’s Carrousel. Tehran: Artemis.

9- Feranbagh Dadagi. (2001). Bondahishn. Tehran:

Toos.

10- Boyce, M. (1995). The History of Zoroastrianism,

translated by Homayoun Sanatiadeh. Tehran: Toos.

11- Boyce, M. (2002). Zoroastrians, Their Religious

Beliefs and Customs, translated by Askar Bahrami.

Tehran: Qoqnous.

12- Cameron. G. (1936). History of Early Iran. Chicago:

University of Chicago Press.

13- Christensen, A. (1953). Iran during the Sassanid

Era. translated by Yasemi, R. Tehran: Avicenna.

14- Cope, L. (2011). Myth, Translated by Dehqani ,M.

Tehran: Scientific and Cultural.

15- Coomaraswamy, A. (2003). Introduction to Indian

Art, translated by Zekergo, A. Tehran: Rozaneh.

16- Cooper, J.C. (1968). Illustrated Encyclopedia of

Traditional Symbols. London.

17- Edwards, E.P.S. (2012). History of the ancient world

of Elam - Northern Mesopotamia and Syria,

translated by Qaderi, T. Tehran: Mahtab.

18- Eliade, M. (1997). A Thesis in the History of

Religions, translated by Sattari, J. Tehran: Soroush.

19- Eskandari, Sh. (2001). Mythological Concepts of

Goddesses in the Civilizations of Ancient East,

Egypt, India, Mesopotamia, Elam. Tehran: Al-Zahra

University.

20- Esmailpour, A. (2008). Myth, the Symbolic

Expression. Tehran: Soroush.

21- Fanian, Kh. (1972). “Worship of the Mother-

Goddess in Iran”, Journal of Historical Surveys,

Vol.6, No. 6, 209-248.

22- Fazaeli, S. (2004). Ghareb Lexicon. Tehran:

Cultural Heritage Organization.

23- Ferghdan.A, Hoshyar.M. (2010). “Comparative

Study of Water Lily in Iran, India and Egypt”.

Illustrative Art Journal Quarterly.Vol.3, No.6, 49-

58.

24- Gaviri, S. (2000). Anahita in Iranian Mythology.

Tehran: Jamal al-Haq.

25- Getty, A. (1990). Goddess Mother of Living Nature.

London: Thames and Hudson LTD.

26- Gholamali, A. (2003). Introduction to the History of

Religions. Tehran: Paya.

27- Giovinazzo, G.(____). Elam Religion,

Comprehensive History of Iran, translated by

Ashkar Bahrami. Great Islamic Encyclopedia.

28- Gotteral, A. (1991). word mythology. Oxford.

29- Hinnells, J. (1994). Recognition of Iranian

Mythology, translated by Amouzagar, J; and

Tafazolli, A. Tehran: Cheshmeh.

30- Hinz, W. (1997). the Lost World of Elam, translated

by Firouznia, F. Tehran: Institute for Cultural

Studies and Research.

31- Iles Johnston, S. (2015). An Introduction to the

Religions of the Ancient World. translated by

Firouzi. Tehran: Qoqnous.

32- Jalali Moqaddam, M. (2008). Overview of World

Religions. Tehran: Sokhan.

33- Javaheri, B. (2011). “Role of Women in Pharaohs

Civilization with the Emphasis on Archeological

discoveries in Recent Empire Period”, Women in

Culture and Art Journal, Vol.3, No.2, 97-116.

34- Javan, M. (2007). Social History of Ancient Iran.

Tehran: Oloum.

35- Kitto, D. H.(2014). Greeks, translated by Aqeli, S.

Tehran: Mahi.

36- Lassieur, A. (2008). Ancient Egyptians, translated

by Mirsaidi, N. Tehran, Qoqnous.

37- Malandra, W.W. (1983). An Instruction to Ancient

Iranian Religion. Minneapolis.

38- Majidzadeh.Y. (2000). History of Mesopotamia.

Tehran, Vol.2, Center of Academic Publication.

39- Noss, D. (1994). History of the World’s Religions.

Heidelberg.

40- Pashtunizadeh. A. (2017), “Role of Anahita in

Artistic Artifacts”, Women in Culture and Art, Vol.9,

No.1, 93-117.

41- Pourdavood, E. (1977). Yashts, vol. I and II, by the

efforts of Bahram Farah Vashi. Tehran: Institute of

and Printing of Tehran University.

42- Rajabi, P. (2001). Missing Millenniums. Vol. I.

Tehran: Toos.

(JPMNT) Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International

Vol. 7, No 2, 2019.

34

www.japmnt.com

43- Rezapur, M. (2005). "The Linkage of the Mythical

and Epic Goddesss’ Functions in Ancient Stories",

Journal of Persian Language and Literature,

Language and Literature Faculty, Allameh

Tabatabai University, No. 25, 207-218.

44- Rosenberg, D. (1999). Mythology of the World;

Stories and Epics, translated by Sharifian, A.

Tehran: Asatir.

45- Samadi, M. (1988). Moon in Iran from the Earliest

Days to the Advent of Islam. Tehran: Scientific and

Cultural.

46- Sanepour, M. (2014). "The Democracy of Ancient

Greek Myths and Its Impact on the Enlightenment

of Europe", Women's Research, Human Sciences

and Cultural Research Institute, Vol. 5, No. 2, 47-

58.

47- Sanjari, S. (2016). "Cultural Analysis of Ancient

Texts on the Choice of Women's Names", Journal

of Women and Culture, Vol.7, No. 27, 103-119.

48- Sarraf, M. (2005). Religion of the people of Ilam.

Tehran: Samt.

49- Shattuck, C. (2002). Hinduism, translated by Hasan

Afshar. Tehran: Markaz.

50- Shayegan, D. (2004). Religions and Philosophical

Schools of India. vol. 1. Tehran: Amir Kabir.

51- Smith, J. (2010). Iranian and Roman Mythology

Culture, translated by Baradaran Khosroshahi, Sh.

Tehran: Contemporary Culture and Roozbehan.

52- Taheri.S. (2007), “Fertility goddesses in Ancient

Era”, Modarese Honar Quarterly. Vol.2, No.2, 41-

56.

53- Veronica, I. (1994). Mythology of India, translated

by Farrokhi Bajlan, Tehran: Asatir.

54- Vieu, J. (1996). The Culture of Egyptian Mythology,

translated by Esmailpour, A. Tehran: Fekre rooz.

55- Warner, R. (2007). The Encyclopedia of World

Mythology, translated by Esmailpour, A. Tehran:

Ostoure.

56- Widengren, G. (1998). Iranian Religions, translated

by Farhang M. Tehran, Agahan Dide.

57- Yarshater, E. (1999). “The Evolution of Religious

Thought”, Iran-Cambridge History from the

Seleucid Empire to the collapse of the Sassanid

Empire, translated by Anousheh, H. Tehran: Amir

Kabir.

58- Zarshenas, Z. (2006). Women and Word, Collector

Dr. Vida Naddaf, Tehran: Farvahar.